I wish you all a blessed Thanksgiving Holiday. Boy Scouts of American and Troop 287 has been a blessing for me since my oldest son entered scouts in 2005. I have done so many activities with my sons Michael and Lance in scouts that positively impacted our lives. Without scouting, I’m not sure we would have accomplished so many skills in adventuring, seen so many of nature’s wonder’s and developed such a strong sense of citizenship. There have been so many times that I felt overwhelmed with scouts, but all that goes away when I see that sunrise cresting over the frozen mountains and trees of Colorado, or seeing a scout catch his first fish, or seeing them work as a team to make dinner, or seeing the determination in a scout’s eyes as they carry that 35lbs pack over 10,000 ft peaks to make it to the campsite. I loved seeing scout’s use a map to navigate, seeing them help each other with medical first aid, and saluting the flag at every meeting. It warms my heart to see parents come together to ensure summer camp is coordinated, drive on frozen streets to put out flags, balance check books, schedule outings and every other aspect of that goes into running a meeting or outing. These selfless acts are not always easy, normally a sacrifice of time or money, and often come without instant appreciation from those around you. But!, these actions are derived from a sense of love for our scouts, family and community. The troop is full of people that want to make our community a better place and most often, the troop is only one aspect of your efforts. It’s because of people like you, the ones reading this email, that I am personally thankful for this Thanksgiving. Please talk to the scouts and remind them that it’s not the big TV, Smartphone or the Xbox that we need to be thankful for. Those things are simply a secondary effect of our successful society derived from the positive actions of our ancestors and people like you that work every day to make this country and community a better place. Let’s be thankful for the basics…food not the table, family, shelter, and the then everything else.

In summary, thank you all for contributing to make my family’s life better, everything you do for your scouts and the Troop. The world is a better place because of people like you.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Sean

Share this:

Believe it or not but its time for us to Enter the lottery to attend Philmont in 2020. For those that don’t know, Philmont is one of the BSA’s high adventure camps. We are going to Sea Base next year, Philmont in 2020 and Boundary Waters in 2021.

For a BSA high adventure camps, a scout must be 14 years of age or 13 and a graduate of 8th grade. This is one of the best adventures (probably the best adventure) that they will ever experience. I did a 107 mile trek with my older son in 2014 and it was an amazing experience. We will likely do something a little shorter this time, 50-75 miles on either a 7 or 12 day adventure.

“Philmont Scout Ranch is the Boy Scouts of America’s largest National High Adventure Base. Born in 1938 as Philturn Rocky Mountain Scout Camp, Philmont has become a bustling center for high adventure and training. It covers 140,177 acres of rugged mountain wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo range of the Rocky Mountains in northeastern New Mexico. Philmont has a unique history of ancient Native Americans who chipped petroglyphs into canyon walls, Spanish conquistadors, who explored the Southwest long before the first colonists arrived on the Atlantic coast, the rugged breed of mountain man such as Kit Carson, who blazed trails across this land, the great land barons like Lucien Maxwell who built ranches along the Santa Fe Trail and miners, loggers and cowboys. All left their mark on Philmont.

Philmont Scout Ranch operates 35 staffed camps and 55 trail camps across the rugged terrain that ranges in elevation from 6,500 to 12,441 feet. More than 1 million Scouts, Venturers, and Advisors have experienced the adventure of Philmont since its first camping season in 1939. Most activities take place during the summer, but Philmont also offers programs during the offseason such as Autumn and Winter Adventure. Throughout its existence, conscientious attention to low-impact camping techniques and diligent wildlife and forestry conservation work has helped maintain Philmont’s wilderness.

In addition to providing an unforgettable adventure in backpacking across miles of rugged, rocky trails, Philmont Scout Ranch offers programs that feature the best of the Old West—horseback riding, burrow packing, gold panning, chuckwagon dinners, and interpretive history—with exciting challenges for today such as rock climbing, mountain biking, and sport shooting. It’s an unbeatable recipe for fast-paced fun in the outdoors.”

The cost of Philmont will be between $650 vs. $1025 depending on what adventure we choose! Since this is so far out, we will be able to have a payment plan and this is plenty of time to raise money to support your adventure!

Share this:

The next COH is a Thanksgiving/Christmas/Holiday COH. Thanksgiving will have passed, but we can still give thanks and also dine in the Christmas spirit with a great potluck dinner prior to awards and advancements. We truly have a lot to be thankful for….living in Colorado, our happiness, health and most importantly our wonderful kids that bring us all together and allow us to have such great scouting adventures! Please sign up for what you are able to bring to the dinner.

Share this:

First, I would like to thank everyone that braved the cold and participated in Flags yesterday. This troop demonstrated true grit and determination to complete the mission. I feel I can speak for my fellow veterans in the Troop that we really appreciate all your efforts to honor Veteran’s Day, parents and scouts alike. I’m sure half of Mountain Shadows were surprised to see us putting up Flags in that weather! I’m very proud to be a part of this troop!

Rank Advancements!

We have two more meetings in the Month of November….the 13th and the 27th. Both of these meetings are going to be focus on Rank Advancement and Merit Badge Completion. Our Court of Honor will ben December 11th. The goal over these next two meetings in November is to finish up what you need in preparation of the Court of Honor. If you went to this past summer camp, you should be really close to getting 2nd class. Let’s have as many Scoutmaster’s there as possible to help our scouts tie up some loose ends and advance! We will be available for scoutmaster conferences tomorrow and the 27th. There is no meeting on the 20th dude to Thanksgiving Week!

Community Service Opportunity:

On 29 Nov, from 1800-2000 (or so), the Mountain Shadows Community Association (MSCA) is hosting a Tree Lighting Ceremony at Mountain Shadows Park. This is the same location as last year, next to the playground and pavilion (near Chipeta). This celebration will mark the “beginning” of the Mountain Shadows neighborhood Holiday Season. During the ceremony, there will be hot cocoa offered, the Community Choir will perform a few songs, and the Community Tree will be lit.

The MSCA is requesting about four “servers” for the hot cocoa. I offered up our Troop for this volunteer opportunity. The servers will basically stand behind a table and fill cups for hot cocoa and maybe coffee if supplied. Last year, there were reportedly about 100-150 neighbors in attendance from around the area. The turn out is expected to be about the same as last year.

This counts as community service for those that attend.

Community Night at the Space Foundation for a night of STEM fun! It’s Free!

Mr McGuire found this is a fun local event that is coming up. Its not a scout thing but its a fun and interesting community thing. It’s free and all family members can attend.

Share this:

Just a reminder that Veteran’s Day flags is coming on on November 11th. Thanks to all that signed up! We are short on Navigator so it would be awesome if someone could sign up for that position. Looks like we are full on Driver’s and scouts.

We will meet at the church on Sunday at 630am to put out the flags and we will meet back again at 4pm to pick up flags (Since the sun sets at 450pm..ish). Please wear Class A’s and also bring headlamps incase we run into limited visibility. There used to be flag buckets that had reflective vests. If they are still in there I recommend wearing them.

Another email will come closer to Sunday with the Routes and who is on what route.

If you are on the list and cannot make it then please let us know in advance!

Share this:

Tomorrow’s night meeting is a game night and we are going to have game night at Overdrive this week! Overdrive is a go cart racing track that goes to a pretty fast speed from what I can tell on the website. Here is a link to the site https://overdriveraceway.com/racing/ The is a liability waiver on there that parents can fill out in advance to save time. It looks like a race is $17 for 12 year olds and below and $20 for 13 year olds and above. Parents can pay Overdrive directly for whatever package you decide to do. Let’s meet there at 6pm and we can get after it!!

Please wear close toed shoes. Here are the FAQs so please ready these prior to coming. https://overdriveraceway.com/frequently-asked-questions/

Overdrive is located at:

196 Spectrum Loop
Colorado Springs, CO 80921
719-453-0561

See you there

Sean

Share this:

I apologize that we did not give much notice for walking in the Veteran’s Day parade this year. I thought it was on the 10th (During Veteran’s Day Weekend) but instead ended up being on the 3rd. Right now we have one scout signed up to attend. I’d like to have a least 5 scouts and one adult sign up before promising the Special Forces Association that we will attend. We would need one to carry the troop flag and one to carry the American Flag and others to walk with them. Unfortunately, I cannot even commit myself as I will be working all weekend. I am going to leave the signup on there until noon on Friday to give scouts and an adult leader a chance to sign up, but if we can’t get at least 5 scouts and one adult leader then I’ll politely decline the invitation from the SFA. At a minimum, I hope that the scouts and families get a chance to see the parade. We have such a strong Veteran presence in Colorado Springs which results in an impressive parade.

Here are the details and link again 🙂

Veteran’s Day Parade: The Special Forces Association asked if we can march with them in the Veteran’s Day Parade on 3 Nov 2018. We will meet at the VFW Post 101, 702 S Tejon Street Colorado Springs 80903 at 7am. The SFA will provide donuts for those who attend! Adult leaders are more than welcome to walk with the scouts as well. Come show your pride! Please sign up soon so they can account for numbers

Share this:

I just got a call from the Tour Guide and she canceled tonight’s tour because they are expecting a lot of snow and the steep streets can get pretty slippery. We can talk about re-scheduling at the next Troop meeting. As for tonight, there will be no meeting to keep cars off the road. Enjoy your night off!!

For Nov 3rd. I replaced the bike ride with the Veteran’s Day Parade. I didn’t realize the parade was on the 3rd and it seem un-patriotic to schedule a meeting over it 🙂 I did put a sign up to walk in the parade with the Special Forces Association in the last post and I hope we get a bunch of us to sign up!!

Share this:

Folks, two opportunities coming up to support our community and have some fun!

Veteran’s Day Parade: The Special Forces Association asked if we can march with them in the Veteran’s Day Parade on 3 Nov 2018. We will meet at the VFW Post 101, 702 S Tejon Street Colorado Springs 80903 at 7am. The SFA will provide donuts for those who attend! Adult leaders are more than welcome to walk with the scouts as well. Come show your pride! Please sign up soon so they can account for numbers

Warren Miller Movie at the World Arena: The Assistant General Manager of the World Arena reached out to me and asked if our troop could help support the Warren Miller movie on November 2nd and 3rd. She is looking for 8 volunteers each night, 4 at each door and arrival time of 5:45pm to get prepped for doors. We would need 2 adults to accompany the scouts (4 at each door with 1 adult with them, so 2 adults and 8 Scouts each night).

They would be handing out vouchers and a sponsor coupon. Once we feel most everyone is seated and had their material, the Scouts and the adults can watch the film if they want to or feel free to leave.

Share this:

Just a reminder that the haunted tour is Tuesday night @ 7pm. We are meeting at a parking lot directly across from Hell Kitchen Pizza in Manitou Springs located at 9 Ruxton Ave, Manitou Springs, CO 80829. The weather report looks pretty bad right now….Rain and Snow. The tour guide mentioned that she might cancel the tour if the weather is too bad. Please check your email before departing to the tour. I told her that we are scouts and can be prepared for anything! The cost is $10 a person (normally $15), family and friends are welcome to attend. Registered adult leaders are free. Please bring cash only! I will collect the payment and pay the tour guide. For the record this is a historical tour of events documented in legitimate resources. You will not be disappointed! Its one of the best tours I’ve ever had in Manitou.

Thanks

Sean

Share this:

Our next meeting on Tuesday at Wilson United Methodist Church will focus on Uniform Inspections and Merit Badge Completion. Right now we are predominantly working on three Merit Badges….Citizenship in the World, Fishing and Cooking. If you click on the names of the merit badge you will find the worksheets if you need them. Please remember to bring in your popcorn forms to tomorrow night’s meeting.

Next Tuesday on the 30th (the night before Halloween), we have a private Haunted Manitou Springs Tour. We did this a year ago and its a lot of fun! The Tour is normally $15 per person but the guide is only charging us $10 per person and Adult Leaders are Free! Stephanie Waters is the tour guide and she has written many books of hauntings in the area. You can check out her website here: http://www.manitoulegends.com/blackcoffee/index.html

We will meeting in Manitou Springs at 7pm on the 30th in the parking lot right across from Hells Kitchen Pizza located at 9 Ruxton Ave, Manitou Springs, CO 80829. Please dress for the weather and you are welcome to dress up in costume as well. This is a family friendly event and everyone is welcome to attend. This will put you in the Halloween Spirit!!

For planning purposes, the horse campout scheduled for the 2-4th of November is not likely to happen. Its very pricey event and we try to keep the cost of our campouts reasonable. Other options include doing a bike ride and starting the Cycling Merit Badge. The council is also running the Rifle Merit Badge if anyone is interested.

Finally, please consider helping out with the Wilson United Methodist Church Harvest Festival on the 27th. They are about 25 helpers short of what they need. They give us a place to have meetings so its good to help give back when we can. This time will count as community service hours towards rank advancement or merit badges. Here is the link to sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F054BACA929A4FC1-harvest2

Thanks!

Sean

Share this:

Please write which prize the Scout has chosen at the bottom of the order form. There are four prize choices (if the Scout has sold as least $250). Also, please turn in any money that has been collected.

Popcorn will arrive November 10th. Popcorn orders must be paid in full by November 27th.

Questions? Please contact Lisa Durrenberger 719-237-3805

Share this:

Its time for the Wilson Methodist Church Harvest festival. This is a chance to give back to the church that gives us a place to meet every week since 1986. Every year we have scouts and scout parents help direct cars in the parking lot and help run some of the activities. The Church needs at least 10 helpers from our troop, both scouts and parents. There is food and treats and scouts have a pretty good time during this event. Please sign up if you can help. Proudly wear your scout uniform to represent the Troop!

Share this:

Thank you for a great weekend of Camping at Farish! You worked very hard towards your Fishing and Cooking Merit Badges and we will finish those up in the coming weeks!

The Troop decided they would like to attend a trampoline park for Game Night this week so we are going to meet at Sky Zone located at 1750 E Woodmen Rd, Colorado Springs, CO 80920. The cost for Sky Zone is $15 for a hour. Let’s meet at 630pm so we can jump solid until 730pm!! If you have never been there then check out the link https://www.skyzone.com/coloradosprings

There is a lot of cool stuff there….Free Style Jumping, Ultimate Dodgeball, Ultimate Slamball, Ultimate Volleyball, and a foam pit to flip into.

Thanks!

Sean

Share this:

Weather:
Its going to get cold at night! It looks like we have clear skies on Friday and Saturday but please note that the low on Friday is 33 degrees and 15 on Saturday. Scouts will be sleeping in Tents so please make sure you have a sleeping back rated to that temperature. If not, we do have the Barn as a back up plan if it gets too cold.

Timeline:

October 12

530pm: Meet at Wilson Methodist Church

6pm: Depart to Farish

7pm: Check into Farish – Set up Camp

October 13

7am: Make Breakfast (Cooking Merit Badge)

9-Noon: Fishing Merit Badge

Noon-1pm: Cook Lunch (Cooking Merit Badge)

1pm-5pm: Fishing Merit Badge / Tomahawk and Archery Activities

5-7pm: Dinner (Cooking Merit Badge)

7-UTC Flag Retirement Ceremony – Free Time

October 14

7am: Breakfast (Cooking Merit Badge)

830am: Fishing Merit Badge – Free Time

Noon: Break Down and Return to Church (Families are welcome to stay all day!)

Friday Dinner: Scouts bring your own cookable meal. This is going to be something you can use a backpacking stove to cook dinner with. So it can be a dehydrated meal or something that you add hot water too. This is part of the Cooking Merit Badge Requirement. For family members, please bring your own meal for Friday night. Your choice!

Saturday Breakfast: Pancakes, Bacon and Eggs. Please prepare enough for everyone to include family and guests. Adults will have to bring their own coffee or if you would rather have something in addition to what the scouts are preparing.

Saturday Lunch: Scouts bring your own cookable meal. This is another meal that the scouts will cook using their backpacking stoves. So it can be a dehydrated meal or something that you add hot water too. This is part of the Cooking Merit Badge Requirement. Family members must bring their own lunch.

Saturday Dinner: Fish (If Caught), Hamburgers, Buns, Cheese, Potato chips and baked beans. Please cook enough for all the families. If families do not wish to have this meal then feel free to bring the food of your choice.

Note: We have 3 charcoal Grills that we can use to cook on, we have our troop Coleman Stoves, Backpacking Stoves and a fire pit. This diet does not accept for dietary restrictions such as gluten sensitivities or allergies. Please plan accordingly. The cost per scout on this trip will run approximately $15-$20. There is not a cost to family members.

For food planning purposes, we have 10 Scouts, 6 Adult Leaders, and 8 Family Members for a total 24 people.

Packing List:

Backpack (or Container to carry personal items)

Sleeping bag (Rated to at least 0 degrees)

Sleeping pad

Class A shirt

Winter Jacket

Clothes to match the weather (layers)…some of the scouts will fall into the water. It happens every time. Bring a change of clothes.

Gloves

Beanie Hat

Raincoat (Can also be used for warmth)

First aid kit

Fire making stuff

Sunscreen

Sunglasses

Knife

At least 2 liters of water

BSA handbook and any other merit badges you want to work on (You don’t have to carry the book…but write down what skills you want to accomplish)

Share this:

CU- Boulder has a merit badge university event coming up on November 3rd. Right now we have a campout planned for that weekend but this could be an alternative to the Campout should the troop decide so. The campout planned for 3 November is Horsemanship.

Merit Badge University at CU-Boulder is an event where Section 30 of Alpha Phi Omega holds classes for Front Range area Boy Scouts in various merit badges. We typically offer over 30 different merit badges every semester. This event has been held at the University of Colorado Boulder campus for 25 plus years. The event attracts over 400 Boy Scouts and 40-55 college student volunteers from APO Chapters throughout Colorado.

Share this:

This is a pretty big prep meeting tomorrow! We are going to get everything ready for our trip to Farish (45 Min from the church). This is a family camp out so all of you are invited to attend! We plan on doing the Cooking Merit Badge and the Fishing Merit Badge. Scout need to plan to have all the food to accomplish the Cooking Merit Badge. Be prepared for a few scout to go shopping to purchase the items. Also remember to bring your fishing poles and gear. If you are over 16 and want to fish then you can buy your license at Farish. This is federal property so I feel that is the best place to buy the license as it might be different then the Colorado License.

Some other activities to plan for….

Tomahawk Throwing

Adl Adl Throwing

Flag Retirements ceremonies

Having an awesome time!!!

Lets have a great time!!!

Honestly I cannot wait for this trip! Its going to be relaxing and fun!!!!! Please sign up

Sean

Share this:

We are in for a fun car camping family weekend of cooking, fishing and scout activities. The next Camp out will be at Farish Recreational Area located in Woodland Park. This is a campground that owned by the Air Force Academy so it has all the amenities. It has a store, heated building (if some parents want to sleep inside), electricity, fishing ponds, etc. It doesn’t have pull up bars though because the Army doesn’t own it 🙂

Attached above is the map. We are staying at a location called the “Barn.” This is not actually a barn but instead a heated building with power. Last time I was there it had a couple refrigerators, carpeted floors and other indoor amenities.

We are offering to host some Cub Scouts for a few hours too but so far we do not have any takers…but we need to be prepared for that just in case. We can bring some tomahawks to throw and some Adl Adle spears (I think we have some in the barn).

We will be working on two merit badges….Cooking (Eagle Required) and Fishing. Please sign your scout up for which one they would like to accomplish. We may be able to have all of them do both but it will be tight!

Remember this is a family camp out too so parents and siblings are free to attend and spend the weekend with your scouts!! There are plenty of things to do with families…hike, mountian bike, fish, etc. Those 15 and under can fish for free. 16 years old and older must buy a fishing license and they can be bought from the shop at Farish. Scouts need to supply their own fishing poles, bait and hooks because the troop doesn’t own any.

We will meet at the church on Friday the 12th at 5pm and depart as soon as we can. We will return on Sunday around noon-2pm (to finish up Merit Badges if needed).

Share this:

Tonight we are making a small adjustment to the calendar. We are going to work on Requirement #4 of the Citizenship in the World MB. The remainder of the MB will be completed by the scouts and turned into Mr. Reeves. The goal is that we are able to start and finish Merit Badges in a timely manner! Parents, please follow up with your scouts to finish this Eagle Required MB. This will take about 30-45 Min of the Meeting time.

We will start and complete the Cooking Merit Badge at the Farish Campout from 12-14 Oct.

Scout Leadership: Please use your remaining time to plan for the Farish Campout or possible conduct a SLC meeting.

Things to consider fro the Farish Campout….This is a family campout, we will be working on the fishing and cooking MB’s. All meals will focus on those two MB’s….if we catch fish then we can cook them up. We might have some webelos there so plan two hours to be a Webelo event….such as Tomahawk Throwing, Firem’n’s Chit, Toten Chit, and Atl-Atl throwing. Also, plan to retire some American Flag’s at the night time ceremony on Saturday night!

Here is the Map and Brochure for Farish. I will generate the sign up genius today.

Share this:

About Troop 287

Welcome to the website of Boy Scout Troop 287 at Wilson United Methodist Church, located on the northwest side of Colorado Springs, CO, in school districts 11 and 20. We are in the BSA Pikes Peak Council, Frontier District.

To the left, you can view our news and events. Below you can browse information about our troop, subscribe to our blog by email, download documents, and access useful links.